Detective Larabee AU: Story 1 Introducing Buck
by Lu-Larabee-Standish
Summary: Young Buck's Mom has just been murdered - what will Buck do next?
1. Chapter 1

**Fic: Detective Larabee AU - Story 1: Introducing Buck Wilmington**

Disclaimer: None of the Magnificent 7 belong to me and I don't make any money from this story.

Warnings: Small amount of child violence but nothing very graphical

Rating: PG-15

Main Characters: Buck (as a boy), Chris, OMC

Closed AU at the moment, but I won't stop you if you want to write in the AU.

Thanks to:

Lara for her plot bunny which prompted me to write this.

Katy for her wonderful betaing and helping out a great deal with this story - I couldn't have done it without her.

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**Chapter 1**

It was a Sunday night in early January, and the town of Purgatorio was suffering from a terrible storm. Trees were blackened by lightning and the lower roads were fast becoming like rivers. Most of the town was asleep - except for those who were working night shifts.

One of those people was Detective Chris Larabee, who was investigating a string of murders of beautiful young women. When only two women had been found murdered, it hadn't seemed like the murders were connected, but then more bodies of young women on low incomes were found. All the dead women had earned money by allowing men to pay to use their bodies. All the murdered women had been mothers and - judging by their ages and their children's - they had left school early after falling pregnant. With no qualifications to get decent jobs, they had resorted to prostitution to support their families.

Chris Larabee was just getting ready to go to the scene of the most recent of the 'Working Girl Murders'. This one was located, like all the others, in a seedy part of town in a low-rent apartment block. The prostitute was identified as Miss Belinda Wilmington, a woman with a kind heart, always ready to help a friend in need. She had a son of approximately ten years old but when her neighbour had found the mother's body, she couldn't find the son after looking all over for him. The boy wasn't usually allowed out of the apartment because that part of the town wasn't safe for children to be out alone, especially at night, so he must be hiding somewhere in the apartment.

Larabee stood up from his desk and put on his coat and hat, then gathered up the few things he would need at the crime scene. After managing to find a pen and notebook, he grabbed his car keys and left the office.

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Buck Wilmington hid in the large closet in the apartment's bedroom; he was safe here for the moment. He could hear the police in the other room looking around the crime-scene. Soon they would take her body away and he would never see her again. He wanted to cry for her loss, but found he was unable to. He wanted to find the murderer and kill the person himself, but wouldn't know where to start looking. This whole neighbourhood had many people capable of killing, and Buck had no idea which one might've killed his mom. He had been in the bedroom when he'd heard all the noises in the sitting room, then the gunshot. The boy knew what had happened in the other room without going to investigate, because he'd heard about all the previous murders of other poor children's moms and had been afraid his mom might be next.

He heard a new voice and realised the detective must've arrived; the man who was most qualified to track down his mother's killer. The other cops had talked about the detective and said he would be there soon. Buck really wanted to run to the man and talk to him, but if he revealed himself, they would send him to a foster home. Then he would probably be abused like some of his friends had - they had met up with him and shown him their bruises, telling him stories of their cruel foster parents. Foster parents didn't love children that weren't really theirs, Buck was pretty sure of it.

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Detective Larabee examined the sitting room of the apartment carefully, looking for anything that might help his investigation. It looked like the killer had been very careful not to leave any clues; not an unusual occurrence these days, as criminals seemed to be getting smarter, which was unfortunate for the police. It looked like the murderer must have come in the front door as there was no noticeable damage to any of the closed windows.

Chris wanted desperately to find the boy and comfort him - he would be really upset about what had happened, assuming he knew - maybe he was out somewhere and had no knowledge of what had befallen Belinda. Chris continued to search for clues - he desperately wanted to find Buck but he had to investigate the crime scene first.

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Buck held his breath while he hid in the closet - he knew the detective was in the other room now and he was worried the detective would come to find him. He decided he should make his escape while they were all in the sitting room.  
Buck climbed out of the closet and walked to the small window. He looked out - it was too far to jump down, but he could climb onto the roof easily and make his way across to the fire escape ladder.

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Later that night, Buck hid behind some large dumpsters in an alleyway - he was safe here for now. He couldn't sleep here though - it smelt too awful, so he decided to visit his mom's friend Matt - he would look after him for now and give him somewhere safe to sleep. Even though Matt wasn't always kind to him, he would shelter him now that Buck had nowhere to go.

Buck at least had money in his pockets to pay for some food; he had taken all the money remaining in his mom's money tin. He hadn't wanted the cops to steal her money. His mom had told him that when her friend Maxine had been found dead, her money had been stolen by the police and they would have spent it on the luxuries poor people didn't have, like designer clothes.

Buck stood up and headed for Matt's apartment block.

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In the early hours of the morning, Buck sat down on the sitting room floor of his mom's friend's apartment. Matt had said that he could sleep on a thin blanket on the floor, as there wasn't a spare bed for him and the sofa was falling apart so would be too uncomfortable. Buck didn't mind - at least he was safe from strangers and would be sheltered from the heavy rain outside.

Buck took the photo of his mother out of his pocket and gazed into her beautiful blue eyes, wondering why they had chosen to take her. Tears began to form in his eyes as he studied the picture of the smiling young woman with long, curly brown hair. The picture had been taken not long before Belinda had been killed and Buck wished he could turn back the clock to that day.

"You're supposed to be asleep!" said the angry voice of Matt Smith as he entered the sitting room. Matt approached Buck and saw what the boy was holding. His mouth curled into an angry expression and he snatched the picture from Buck.

"That's mine, you can't have it," yelled Buck trying to grab the photo back off Matt.

Matt just moved further away and replied, "I don't have anything to remember your mother by so I'm keeping this. You saw her everyday and can remember her better than me - you don't need any photos." The man put the photo into his pocket and left the room.

Buck looked up at the ceiling and cried hard. That was his only picture and now it was gone. He wanted to leave this place, but he didn't know where he could go. Most of his mom's friends were either dead, in prison or else they'd moved away. Buck wished his mother could come back; it wasn't fair that she'd been taken from him.

"Mom, if you're in Heaven lookin' down on me, please try and do somethin' so I don't have to live here with Matt too long. If I don't find somewhere better to live soon I might come and join you one day real soon." After finishing talking to his mother - who he thought was an angel now - Buck laid down to get some sleep before morning.

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"You can't take me off the case, Chief," complained Chris Larabee angrily. It was the day after Belinda Wilmington's murder and Detective Larabee had been called into his boss's office as soon as he arrived at the station house.

"I'm assigning Detective James - this case is too close to home for you considering your past. I don't want it to be your undoing. You're a good detective, Chris and I want it to stay that way," said Chief Anderson trying to keep his temper.

Chris Larabee thought back to when his own mother had been murdered and he'd gone into foster care after his father had left home. His mother had a good job and had always taken good care of the family. She'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had been chosen as a hostage. She hadn't co-operated very well, and they'd shot her. Chris had only been nine then and had been unable to cry when he'd found out his mom's fate. Chris knew the Chief was right - he could become too emotionally involved in the case if he continued on it. He desperately wanted to find Buck and make sure he was all right - he didn't want Buck to grow up to be angry and anti-social like he'd been, until he had joined the police force and made friends who had helped him change.

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Meanwhile in Matt's apartment...

"Wake up. We need to go and get some groceries," said Matt, shaking Buck to wake the boy up.

Buck opened his eyes and looked at Matt - the man looked dirty and unshaven like he always did; the appearance made the man look scary, but Buck had learnt from previous experience that Matt was only horrible if he was angry about something. He got up quickly, not wanting to upset Matt by being disobedient.

Matt handed Buck a list of things they needed. "I'm a bit short of dough until pay-day, so I've counted out enough money from what was in your pockets. I take it that was your mom's dough?"

"It's Mom's, you can't have it!" said Buck angrily.

Matt raised his hand toward the boy and hit his cheek. "You'll do as I say if you want to stay here, Belinda would've wanted you to live with me and she would've wanted us to share her money."

Buck rubbed his cheek that now stung. He didn't want the dark-haired adult to hurt him again, so would just do what the man wanted. There was nowhere else for the boy to go so he'd just put up with staying here until he was old enough to live on his own and earn money.

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Chris Larabee was in the supermarket with his wife Sarah one day; two months after Belinda Wilmington had been murdered. The serial murders seemed to have ended now, with no signs of being solved by the detective who had replaced Chris on the case.

"That boy looks a bit like the missing Wilmington boy, doesn't he?" remarked Sarah as she looked over at the man and boy talking, farther along the same aisle. There had been a nation-wide campaign set up to find the missing boy who might have valuable information about his mother's murder. Sarah had seen the boy's picture so many times, that she often thought she saw the boy in public places.

Larabee looked over and noticed it was a skinny boy with a small amount of medium-brown hair escaping from beneath a green woollen hat. The dark-haired man with the boy walked a short distance away from him, making it seem as though he wasn't with the boy. Suddenly, the child turned and looked at Larabee, sad eyes on a bruised and dirty face making brief contact with Chris's hazel ones. The adult near the boy seemed temporarily distracted, watching a security guard standing nearby talking to a young female shelf-stacker. Could the young male be Buck? Had that man kidnapped him?

Suddenly the man turned back from watching the guard and coughed. The young brunet looked over at the security guard and shouted, "That man is stealing things, you gotta catch him!" The man had already grabbed some items off the shelves and dashed away with the guard chasing after him. The boy meanwhile grabbed a few tins off the shelf and stuffed them into a bag, unaware that Larabee was discretely watching.

Chris didn't want to get the boy into trouble, although he should report him really. He felt sorry for the boy and reporting him wouldn't make things better. He had to help somehow - before the boy grew up to be a full-grown criminal.

"Chris?" asked Sarah, aware that her husband seemed to be in a daze, then the blond stopped discretely watching the boy and turned to Sarah.

"Sorry, I was miles away," he apologised, noticing the boy was now heading for the exit.

"We need to get some potato chips as well - kids like them. I'm really looking forward to Ezra's arrival," said Sarah smiling at Chris. Ezra was the boy they were going to be foster parents for very soon, as his mother had gone to jail for several months.

The couple started for another aisle; the boy with brown hair already forgotten.

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Outside in the street, Matt and Buck rejoined to go home after Matt had lost the security guard. "Did you get the things we need?" asked Matt.

"Sure; everything you asked for," said Buck, opening his bag to show Matt what he'd lifted from the store.

"Good work, kid. Let's go home and eat," said Matt happily, taking Buck's free hand and leading him home. To all the passers-by they looked like an ordinary father and son.

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Three weeks later, Chris Larabee watched from a distance as he saw the same brown-haired boy with the green knitted hat open the door of the apartment block and walk inside. Larabee visualised the boy walking up the stairs to the apartment where Matt Smith lived alone - well, alone until Buck had moved in.

Larabee had done some off-duty investigating in an effort to find where Buck might be staying. The detective had struck gold when he'd come across Matt Smith, a friend of Belinda's. Further digging into Matt's file had revealed that Matt wasn't a kind or gentle man, but was one of the few remaining local friends of Belinda's. Chris didn't doubt that Matt was abusing Buck judging by the bruises he'd seen on the boy's face and if something wasn't done soon, Matt might end up hurting the boy more seriously. The blond detective was surprised that Buck had stayed there undetected as long as he must've done. Chris guessed that Buck had gone there not long after Belinda had been murdered.

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Once inside Matt's apartment, Buck put tinned vegetables in a saucepan on the stove to heat through, while he opened the box of a microwaveable pie and put it in to cook. Matt sat on the sofa in the sitting room and watched hockey, drinking his beer between shouting obscenities at the screen.

"Hey, Kid? Will you come here with another beer?" called Matt, five minutes later.

Buck took a can out of the refrigerator then reached into the overhead cupboard for a pint glass - the man could at least drink it from a glass rather than a can. His mother had always been against the boy drinking straight from bottles or cans. Buck opened the can then carefully poured the contents into the glass. Then he ran into the sitting room with the beer and put it on the coffee table near Matt. Then he asked, "Is your team winning?" Buck hoped that the answer would be yes; otherwise Matt would be angry.

"No, they're losing - come here!" ordered Matt angrily.

Buck obeyed nervously, knowing what was coming.

"What took you so long with my beer? You're so slow, Kid," said Matt and swiped his fist at the boy's cheek, impacting and making a new bruise there. Buck kept quiet, knowing Matt would do it again if he made a noise.

**To be continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

One week later, Buck and Matt were at the apartment when the phone rang; "Get that will you, Buck," ordered Matt, who thought it was one of his friends on the phone.

Buck ran to the phone and picked it up. "Hello?" he said nervously. Buck was scared of Matt's friends who were even less friendly than Matt.

"Buck Wilmington?" asked a man's voice on the other end.

"Yeah, that's my name. Who's calling?" answered the boy not thinking before he answered.

Buck heard footsteps behind him and turned to face Matt. "You idiot! You were supposed to hang up - now they'll come and get you." Matt slammed down the phone receiver angrily, then glared at the brown-haired boy. Somehow the cops must've got suspicious that Buck might be with him.

"I'm sorry - I didn't know," apologised Buck, backing away from the angry adult.

"You're stupid then. Go and pack some clothes, we're leaving," said Matt and went back into the sitting room to turn the TV off.

Buck ran along the hallway to the bedroom, where he had some clothes in a closet and once there started packing everything into a backpack. Then he remembered what his mom had always done; she'd always folded his clothes before he put them into a bag to take to a sleep-over so that they didn't get creased. Buck started folding the clothes neatly and quickly. He had always listened intently to his mom's words of wisdom, believing that her ways were the right ways.

He heard the doorbell ring and ran to his bedroom's window - it was his only way out, even if it was four floors up. Buck stood nervously looking at the ground far below - he didn't want to die.

Matt was in the kitchen, grabbing some of his clothes from the clothes line hanging there, when the front door was forced open.

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"Where's the boy?" asked the tall well-built policeman as he looked at Matt suspiciously. They had a warrant for the man's arrest for several crimes they now had evidence of and could add kidnap and possibly child-abuse to that. After their detective friend had traced Buck, they had been able to find some new contacts who were friends of Buck and Matt. The contacts hadn't known Buck was with Matt and were upset to hear that he was, because they didn't want the son of their dead friend to be hurt by the violent man. They would rather give evidence against Matt than have the man continue to hurt Belinda's son.

"What boy?" asked Matt innocently. He hoped the cops might fall for his act and leave, not realising that they had come to arrest him for some of his unlawful work.

"Buck Wilmington; someone has spotted him entering here several times after his mother's body was found and he disappeared. We know he's been here because he answered the phone earlier," answered the young man with shoulder-length medium-brown hair whose name was Vin. He'd just been transferred from Texas and this was only his second house-call.

"I don't know anyone by that name," lied Matt convincingly. Then his hands were cuffed behind his back by the well-built Josiah Sanchez, a cop he had met on several occasions. Matt knew that Sanchez wouldn't be gentle with him; the cop had said before that he detested people who hurt good people and Matt was pretty certain that the cops suspected that he'd been rough with Buck.

"Officer Jackson and Officer Tanner - go to the bedroom and see if he's there," ordered Sergeant Sanchez. They had looked at plans of apartments around here and knew that there was only one bedroom in each one. This apartment block was among the cheapest around and the apartments didn't have enough rooms for extra bedrooms.

Nathan Jackson and Vin Tanner headed along the hallway, looking for the bedroom.

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Meanwhile, Buck had decided to hide under Matt's bed instead of jumping out of the window, which seemed like a really bad idea to the boy. There was the fire escape, but Buck didn't want to leave the apartment - he was sure that he could stay there hidden, then leave with Matt after the cops had gone.

"BUCK?" called Nathan as he walked into the apartment's only bedroom. He scanned the room, looking for any signs that the boy had been there recently. Then he saw the strap of a backpack sticking out from under the bed. The African-American cop got onto his hands and knees and looked under the bed.

Buck crawled against the wall, hoping that somehow the cop wouldn't see him there.

"Hi there, are you Buck?" Nathan could just make out the shape of the boy in the darkness under the bed.

"I'm not talkin'," answered the boy fiercely.

"You can't stay here on your own - we need to find you a nice clean place to live," said Nathan gently, looking at the filthy boy who only just fit under the bed. Jackson's eyes were becoming accustomed to the darkness and he could make out more details of the kid now.

"I'm fine here," answered Buck, trying to sound convincing. He had to make them believe that Matt was taking good care of him or they'd put him in a foster home.

"You can't live here anymore. There's no-one to take care of you." Nathan spoke gently but with some authority in his voice.

"Matt will take care of me," replied Buck confidently. Despite the man being bad-tempered and violent, he had kept Buck safe since the boy's mother had died.

"Matt has to come with us; he's done some bad things," answered Jackson. He was glad that they could take Matt away; the boy would have no reason to stay here in this slum then.

"He ain't done nothin' wrong!" shouted Buck defensively. As far as he knew Matt hadn't done anything that would get the man arrested by the cops.

"How can ya be sure?" asked an accented voice in the room. Buck figured another cop must've crept in and been listening.

"Coz everything he does is done for the right reasons," said Buck, remembering what Matt had taught him.

"I see - would ya like some candy?" tempted the voice. "I'm Vin Tanner by the way," said the man hoping that introducing himself might make the boy a bit friendlier.

"I ain't allowed candy - it rots my teeth."

"I eat candy all the time and my teeth aren't rotted," replied Vin, now on his hands and knees beside the bed and holding out a candy bar temptingly.

"It's a trick - soon as I get close you'll grab me and pull me out!" yelled Buck, staying against the wall.

"Don't you want a family who love you?" asked Nathan Jackson, compassion in his voice.

"Matt loves me." Buck wondered how long he'd have to stay under the bed for - it was dark and there was barely any room to move.

"I'm not leaving without you, Buck; you can't stay here alone," said Vin sternly. This boy was certainly very obstinate, but the cops weren't leaving without him.

"It's my home now - I can stay here if I want," argued Buck.

"You need to get a bath and some clean clothes or you'll get ill," said Nathan. The brown colour of the boy's skin was from dirt, as Nathan knew that Buck was definitely a Caucasian.

"We don't have any water," Buck lied, as Matt had told him he didn't have to bath anymore.

"We know a place where there's water, we could take you there in our car."

"I ain't going nowhere in a cop's car!" shouted Buck, getting frustrated by the annoying cops who wouldn't leave him alone.

Nathan pulled Vin aside and whispered to him, "We need Josiah in here straight away." Vin nodded and went to fetch the older man.

"Where's he going?" asked Buck suspiciously, upon hearing footsteps leaving the room.

"He's given up talking to you and he's leaving," lied Nathan, seeing if that would get a reaction from the boy, but clearly Buck didn't believe him.

Buck heard louder footsteps entering the room and he shook with fear; they sounded like a big man's feet and he was scared.

"Where's the boy who doesn't want candy?" asked a deep voice Buck didn't know.

Nathan walked over to his older friend and explained that the boy wouldn't come out from under his bed.

Josiah walked to the bed and crouched down to look underneath it. "Matt said you need to come out from under the bed and do everything we ask," tried Josiah in a gentle coaxing voice.

"You're lyin'," replied Buck staying pressed against the wall where he felt safe.

"Your mom would want you to find a new family who love you," said Josiah - that line would surely affect the boy.

"Can I get a family who's nice to me and really loves me like I'm their own?"

"You wouldn't be sent to an unkind family, son. Only good, kind people can look after children."

Buck slowly crawled out from under the bed and Josiah offered his hand to help the boy up. The boy gratefully accepted the help and finally stood facing the cops. The boy decided he'd go to a new family in the hope that they would treat him better than Matt did.

Matt had already been taken away by some other officers, when the three policemen led Buck downstairs.

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Mr. Larabee, this is Bucklin Wilmington. Buck, this is Chris Larabee," said the social worker, when Chris Larabee answered the front door one month after Matt had been arrested.

"Hi Buck. Come in and meet the family," greeted Chris in a friendly manner. Chris had helped the police find Buck after he had seen the boy several times after the supermarket incident. Now in a strange twist of fate, his next foster son was the boy himself.

Chris led the two into the house - they were here to introduce Chris to the boy he had agreed to foster.

"Hi, I'm Ezra," said the short boy with chestnut-brown coloured hair who stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm Buck. Do you live here?" said Buck, looking at the boy warily.

"Yes - Chris is my father."

"Your real father?"

"No, he's my temper-airy father while my mother is in hop-sital," answered Ezra; that was as much as he'd been told, although she might not really be in hospital - it seemed like she'd been in hospital a long time.

"Ezra, why don't you show Buck your room while I talk to Miss Wells?" asked Chris politely - the young social worker needed to talk to Chris about a few things.

"Okay, Father."

Ezra grabbed Buck's hand and pulled him upstairs after him. Chris noticed and spoke, "Ezra, don't do that, just let him follow you."

"Okay," said the boy, and let go of Buck's hand.

Chris walked into the family room as his wife Sarah was putting a tray of coffees on the coffee table. As Sarah straightened up, Chris gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Chris, we've got company," scolded Larabee's embarrassed wife.

Chris smiled and sat down to face Miss Wells.

"Mr. Larabee, we think that Buck may have been stealing from stores. We know that his mother didn't have much money and Mr. Smith wasn't earning regularly so we suspect that the boy had to steal to eat," explained Casey Wells as she recalled the details of Buck's file.

Chris remained silent about witnessing the boy shoplifting at the supermarket; he wanted to help the boy reform and bringing up the past wouldn't help.

"Mr. Smith has been arrested for stealing before and it seems very likely he was making Buck steal food for them. This is all speculation at the moment because Buck hasn't ever been caught, but you'll need to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't take anything he's not meant to." Casey looked at the blond; he looked like he would make a good father for the boy and she hoped that it worked out for Buck. "He was mistreated while he was staying with Mr. Smith and he'll need to have sessions with a child psychiatrist to make sure it hasn't caused any long-term damaging effects to him."

"I said I'd take on any difficult cases and I will stick to my word, Miss Wells. I'll take very good care of Buck, I promise," replied Chris.

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Two weeks after Buck's arrival at the Larabee house, the ten-year-old had settled in well, getting along with the adults and his foster-brother. Sarah had to do her weekly grocery shopping at the supermarket where Chris had first seen Buck, so took both boys with her.

"Sarah, can we look at the toys then come and find you?" asked Buck.

"Sure, honey. If you can't find me just wait at the front of the store," Sarah replied as she trusted Buck to look after his two-years-younger foster brother who was still in their care. Buck had already proved that he was responsible and quite independent.

Sarah collected a shopping cart, then pushed it to the first aisle she needed, while Buck walked with Ezra to the toys, a few aisles over.

"Do they sell packs of cards?" asked Ezra, who loved playing card games, but had lost his last pack of cards.

"Sure, d' you want some?" asked Buck who was fond of Ezra and liked helping the boy - including giving him presents; he'd never had a brother of his own before. Buck led Ezra over to the games section.

"We would have to ask Sarah," replied Ezra looking longingly at the cards.

"If you really want them we'll take some; just keep a look out for the guards," Buck instructed.

Ezra nodded and watched for Security while Buck put two packs of cards in his pocket. The younger boy believed most things Buck told him so thought that maybe it was okay for his brother to take the cards.

Buck walked over to the action figures. "Would you like an Anakin Skywalker?" he asked, as he admired the toy.

"I'm perfec'ly happy with cards," answered Ezra, who was still watching for Security.

"Okay." Buck put one in his pocket for himself, folding the card on the back of the packaging so it wouldn't stick out. Buck was glad he'd thought to wear the coat with large pockets that day.

The boys finished looking at the toys and found Sarah in the frozen food section. They soon finished shopping and headed for the check-out. Buck had told Ezra to keep quiet about their presents.

Sarah walked over to Buck and took the winter coat off of the boy, thinking the boy must be hot in the very warm store. Two packs of unopened playing cards and a still-packaged action figure fell onto the floor and Sarah gasped.

"I was gonna give them to you, Sarah," explained Buck.

"If someone else had found them in your pockets you would've been in big trouble, Bucklin," she warned and gave them to the check-out lady to be put back on the shelves.

"I'm sorry, Sarah," apologised Buck, realising he should've put them in his jeans' pockets.

"We need to have a talk when we get home," stated Sarah as she paid for the groceries.

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"Son, you and I need to have a little talk," said Chris after he had come home from work that day and Sarah had told him what had happened at the supermarket.

"Do you re'wire me as well?" asked eight-year-old Ezra.

"No, Son - you can go upstairs and play and I'll send Buck when I've spoken with him."

"Okay, Father." Despite Ezra calling Sarah by her first name rather than Mother, Ezra had never had a father and liked pretending that Chris was really his father.

Ezra ran upstairs while Buck sat down in a chair facing his father who remained standing.

"Buck, why did you take those things from the store today?" asked Chris, his green eyes looking into Buck's eyes for an answer. Sarah and Chris were both pretty sure that Buck had intended to sneak the items out of the store without asking Sarah if she would buy them.

"So that me and Ezra could have them," answered the boy matter-of-factly.

"Why didn't you ask Sarah if she'd buy them for you?"

"I didn't think she'd buy them for us. They're only cheap things anyway and the store makes plenty of money from more expensive things," answered Buck remembering the information his friend Matt had taught him.

Chris sighed then told Buck; "Son, we love you and Ezra a lot and can buy things for you if you ask us first. Sarah would've bought you the playing cards and action figure if you'd asked her nicely. It is wrong to take things from stores without paying for them and I don't want you to do it again." Chris paused to study Buck's expression but it was blank, so he finished with "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir. I will ask Sarah next time," replied Buck.

"One last thing; Can you tell me if you used to steal things for Uncle Matt? If you did then no-one else has to know, as long as you don't do it anymore." Chris knew that Buck had taken things without paying for them, but wanted the boy to admit that he had.

Buck looked at Chris; unsure if he would stick to his word. "Yes - he said it was okay to do it coz we was poor and couldn't pay for things. If I didn't do it, he threatened to hurt me and even if I was good he still hurt me sometimes," said Buck, tears starting to appear in his eyes.

"Yes, Miss Wells said they thought your bruises were from Uncle Matt, but they had no proof. Thank you for telling me, Buck; it's important for foster parents to know a bit about their children's past. I'm not going to punish you for stealing this time, because you didn't realise you weren't supposed to. But now you know it's wrong, if you do it again I will have to give you a punishment," said Chris.

After talking he put out his arms to Buck and Buck stepped forward eagerly - he had no reason to think Chris would hurt him as he hadn't so far, so he trusted that Chris wanted to hug him and not hurt him. His Uncle Matt had never shown any affection toward him and he was desperate for a hug from someone who loved him.

Chris hugged Buck tightly to him; everything was going to be all right for his newest charge from now on.

**The End**


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